Intraspecific cultivar diversity for IPM in turfgrass lawns

Turfgrass lawns are ever-present in urbanized landscapes. Although turfgrass lawns can provide valuable benefits, these benefits may be offset by the resources used to maintain them. Warm season turfgrasses, used in tropical and subtropical climates of the world, are typically produced and planted as cultivar monocultures. Monoculture lawns are likely more susceptible to pests than diverse plantings, resulting in increased pest control efforts and natural resource inputs. Although multi-species lawns likely provide the greatest ecological benefits, the turfgrass and lawncare industries are driven by aesthetic value, which inhibits the adoption of multi-species plantings. Increasing genotypic diversity by intraspecific cultivar mixing may provide diversity benefits without compromising aesthetic and maintenance uniformity. This study has two primary objectives. First, we will determine if turfgrass cultivar diversity influences pest and beneficial arthropod populations in the field. This will be accomplished by surveying arthropod communities with pitfall traps from a study at the UF Plant Science Research & Education Unit in Citra, Florida. Second, a shade house experiment seeks to determine if turfgrass cultivar mixing can generate associational resistance as an effective integrated pest management (IPM) tactic against a key insect pest, the southern chinch bug (Blissus insularis), and reduce the need for calendar-based pesticide inputs. These studies will hopefully serve as a catalyst for change towards more sustainable production and management practices of a ubiquitous urban plant type.